Bin Hammam loses football lifetime-ban appeal

Ex-Asian football chief loses his FIFA appeal against a life ban for offering bribes to presidential election voters.

Bin Hammam appealed the decision made by FIFA in July which banned him from football [EPA]

Ousted Asian football chief Mohammad bin Hammam has lost his appeal against a lifetime ban from football, the world governing body FIFA has announced.

The Qatari was slapped with the ban in July after he was found guilty of trying to buy votes in the FIFA presidential race by offering Caribbean football officials $40,000 each. He denied all the charges.

"The FIFA Appeal Committee, under the chairmanship of Francisco Acosta (Ecuador), has confirmed the decisions taken by the FIFA Ethics Committee on July 23, 2011 regarding the ban on FIFA Executive Committee member Mohammad bin Hammam for a breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics," said a FIFA statement on Thursday.

"The appeal made by Mohammed bin Hammam has been rejected and the decision of the FIFA Ethics Committee confirmed.

"The sanction of being banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for life has therefore been maintained."

Bin Hammam lawyer said his client would take his case against the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Eugene Gulland said: "As expected, the Fifa appeals panel, which met in Zurich today [Thursday], upheld the 23 July ruling by the Fifa ethics committee, and we will therefore be taking our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."

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